Laguna halts another historic home remodel

April 18, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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A worker removes a chunk of concrete flooring from the historic Halliburton House in Laguna Beach. The City Council on Tuesday night issued an immediate stop-work order to determine whether the work needed to be subject to historic review. PHOTO COURTESY ANN CHRISTOPH/TEXT BY FRANK MICKADEIT

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Richard Halliburton, author and explorer. COURTESY PAUL BENEC

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The Halliburton House in South Laguna has a commanding view. COURTESY PAUL BENEC

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Architect William Alexander Levy at the location of what Richard Halliburton himself dubbed the Hangover House because of its clifftop location. COURTESY PAUL BENEC

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The interior of the Halliburton House, which was constructed of poured steel-reinforced concrete in 1937. COURTESY PAUL BENEC

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The rooms of the Halliburton House had built-in cabinetry. The world map on the wall belonged to Richard Halliburton and was part of the home when it was acquired after his death. COURTESY PAUL BENEC

A worker removes a chunk of concrete flooring from the historic Halliburton House in Laguna Beach. The City Council on Tuesday night issued an immediate stop-work order to determine whether the work needed to be subject to historic review.PHOTO COURTESY ANN CHRISTOPH/TEXT BY FRANK MICKADEIT

When I called Laguna Beach landscape architect and preservationist Ann Christoph on Tuesday for comment on the preservation of the William Wendt house (yesterday's column), she said, "Oh, I thought you were calling about the more immediate issue. With another historic house."

Immediate, it turns out, was that night. So I drove down to Laguna in time to witness something pretty extraordinary: The City Council imposed an emergency stop-work order on the owners of the historic Richard Halliburton House. The owners had been renovating the interior and were removing floors, walls and possibly cabinetry.

The council decision, on a 4-1 vote, was extraordinary on several fronts: 1) the home might be the most architecturally important structure in the city; 2) the council's action was prompted by citizen outcry as opposed to city staff's concerns; 3) the owners had a building permit; 4) the emergency action itself required a supermajority of the council to overcome legal hurdles.

As does the Wendt house, the Halliburton house raises complex issues. When is a structure so historic that government can stop an owner from changing it? (Some would say never. But really? If the Diocese of Orange wanted to raze the mission, should it be able to?) How much does it matter that the historic structure has already been altered? Should restrictions apply to the interior?

The Halliburton House was built on a South Laguna hillside in 1937 by Halliburton, a famous adventurer and writer. It was designed by William Alexander Levy, who had worked for Frank Lloyd Wright. He built it of concrete, steel and glass block – materials international modernists were experimenting with. Halliburton dubbed it the Hangover House because of the way it is cantilevered out over the cliff. Ayn Rand reportedly hung out there and based her protagonist's Heller House on it in "The Fountainhead."

Halliburton was lost at sea in 1939 and the house was purchased at auction for $9,000 by the Scott family. It remained in the family until last year, when it was bought for $3.2 million by a husband-wife pair of real estate brokers. The building has the highest local historical designation and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Two weeks ago, Christoph and other members of the South Laguna Civic Association heard that demolition was occurring within the home. Neighbors could hear jackhammering and saw crews extracting chunks of concrete. They alerted City Hall, which investigated.

The city had issued a permit so the owners could demolish and replace the concrete floor, which had been eroding because of heating pipes that had been embedded when it was built. The issues were whether the demo was going beyond the permit – because of reports that walls and cabinetry were being removed – and whether the permit ever should have been issued.

"This indeed is a great tragedy," Christoph told the council Tuesday, "because (prior to demolition, the interior) had looked as though Richard Halliburton had just left and gone away." Architectural historian Alan Hess told the council the house "is as important in the history of California architecture" as any of the homes by Irving Gill and John Lautner, and is probably Laguna's most significant piece of architecture.

Based on that, the council majority (Kelly Boyd voted no) voted for a stop-work order. The council made clear it doesn't think the owners are, in the words of Mayor Jane Egly, "the devil incarnate." The city staff is to reassess the permit. Christoph wants a strict application of a city code that requires demolition be reviewed by the city Heritage Commission and that approvals be in compliance with California Environmental Quality Act strictures on preservation. That, of course, means studies and public review.

I called one of the owners. At this point, she doesn't want to comment.

City development chief John Montgomery told the council he doesn't believe the owners went beyond the permit and the primary issue is how to apply preservation regulations to interior remodels. Typically, he said, that's at the "administrative discretion" of staff.

Apparently not any more. Stay tuned.

Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com

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